The Surprise Twist Ending

There are certain formulas we have become accustomed to in story telling. You've heard of  “set the problem, pose three obstacles in increasing intensity, climax, goal achieved, and resolution.” It is a mantra most writers repeat as we construct tales, from the shortest picture books to novels. When analyzing all but experimental literature, something of this pattern becomes evident.

There’s a new must in picture books, often referred to as the “surprise twist ending.”

 I wonder. How surprising is an expected surprise? Reading many newly published picture books I will have to be a spoilsport and say that while I detected this convention in most, few of them yielded a genuine surprise.

There lies the art. Formulas will never do.

Here are a few mini examples that, to my jaded mind, work their magic. These are from a site on Jewish Buddhism, a combination that invites a twist. 

Warning: out-of-the-box thinking required.

Drink tea and nourish life;

With the first sip, joy;

With the second sip, satisfaction;

With the third sip, peace;

With the fourth, a Danish.

Deep inside you are ten thousand flowers.

Each flower blossoms ten thousand times.

Each blossom has ten thousand petals.

You might want to see a specialist.

Accept misfortune as a blessing.

Do not wish for perfect health,

Or life without problems.

What would you talk* about?

  

{I’d change “talk” to “write”}

And finally, apropos^

If there is no self,

Whose arthritis is this?